Development of behavioral compensation to the effects of scopolamine during fixed-interval reinforcement

Rats were injected with scopolamine before every daily session of water reinforcement on a fixed-interval (FI) schedule. Initially the drug decreased the rate of responding. Control injections of scopolamine following each session did not. Over 119 sessions, the typical FI performance developed more slowly in the animals drugged before the sessions. Their rates of responding increased from session to session, to a level slightly greater than that of the animals drugged after the sessions. Their rates did not increase. The effects of injections before the session were not duplicated by increasing the deprivation of animals drugged after the session.